Someone To Fall Back On
by StarkidGleek12
Summary: Feeling broken and alone, will Marley finally open up and unleash her demons and possibly open up to the possibility of true love with Ryder? First part of the story. Disclaimer: I own none of the characters of Glee or any of the songs featured!
1. Chapter 1

Someone to Fall Back On

The last bell of the day at McKinley high school had just rung and the energy in the air was palpable. All the students were excited because it was the last day of school before Christmas break and everyone was too stir crazy to focus on anything teachers had to say. The halls were slippery with the snow dragged in from the students who cut last period to go and have snowball fights in the freshly fallen snow that had accumulated since the morning. Marley Rose was at her locker mentally preparing to pack whatever books she needed to take home for break. While most students are choosing to blow off all extra credit that the teachers are assigning, Marley intended to do them as a distraction from what was going to be a very sad Christmas.

This was her very first Christmas in Lima and she still didn't have many friends from her new school, besides those in Glee club, who were not very happy with her at the moment after the debacle at sectionals. Worse still, her and her mom would not be able to afford a tree because all extra money would be spent paying for a therapist who specialized in eating disorders to help Marley recover from her bulimia. It's not like she was the biggest believer in Christmas miracles considering all the crap she's dealt with throughout her life, but she's always loved Christmas trees. Her favorite thing to do on lonely December nights is sit in a chair by the decked out tree and imagine a better and happier life. It was the only thing that kept her from going completely over the edge during the holidays. In fact, she never cared about the presents or the food or anything that people always took for granted. It was always about the tree and the promise of a new day. Now she had absolutely nothing to look forward to for the next two weeks.

Lamenting on this sad fact, she grudgingly tossed some books in her backpack, put on her coat and picked up stuff and prepared to make her way down the slowly emptying hallway. That was, until her friend Ryder Lynn knocked her down while running in the hallway to get to his locker after an impromptu football game with Sam Evans, Blaine Anderson, and Finn Hudson. Marley accidentally let out an annoyed sigh and attempted to pick up her fallen books, but Ryder instead helped Marley back up and picked up her stuff while apologizing a million times. Sam then passed them in the hallway and "why don't you two get a room? I'm sure the choir room is available." Blaine then said: "I wouldn't count on Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury rushing out of there anytime soon."

Just as Blaine, Sam and Finn erupted into laughter and high-fives, Mr. Shue walked out of Sue's office, clearly miffed until he ran into the Glee students and asked "did I miss something?" Ryder then quickly covered for his friends and said "It's nothing Mr. Shue, they're just messing around." Mr. Shue gave Ryder a skeptical look and turned to Marley and said, "you're going to have to work a little bit harder to keep these guys under control, Ms. Rose.", winking. Blaine then walked over to Marley and said "Oh, I think she's way too outnumbered for that task, Mr. Shue." Marley gave Blaine a little brotherly jab in the elbow and Blaine retaliated by ruffling her hair. Mr. Shue just chuckled at this exchange and said "hey you guys better get going before you get in trouble." Then turned to Ryder and Marley and said: "hey you guys remember that extra credit for history that I was going to give you for that test last month? Because you were in the hospital, Marley and Ryder, you just…" "Ummm, failed miserably?" Ryder countered with a pointed expression. "Yeah, something like that." Mr. Shue chuckled. "Well." he continued." I was looking at your grades and realized I never gave it to you, so I was hoping maybe you guys could clean the choir room up a little bit, you know, organize the sheet music and stuff before the janitors get to it. Do you guys have any time now? I would do it, but Coach Sue wants me to go to a meeting with Principal Figgins . Probably another one of her attempts to get me fired." He said with rolling eyes. Ryder piped up and said "yeah, sure I'm free." Marley then said hesitantly, "I'm not sure if I can do it, my mom's waiting for me. She has to drop me off at home before going to a Christmas party in Columbus with some of the other lunch ladies." Ryder offered with a smile, "I can give you a ride when we get done, I don't mind." Marley thought about it for a second, and said "sure, why not?" Mr. Shue said, "that's what I like to hear! Clean it up good, guys!" as he rushed down the hallway to Figgins's office. Marley then turned around to her locker and put her stuff away, as it looked like she wasn't leaving anytime soon. When she shut her locker and reached the choir room, Ryder smiled and said, "Ladies first." Marley smirked a little at his chivalry and took the lead in the disheveled room.

Marley walked over to the piano, and picked up some sheet music that fellow classmate and ditzy cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce drew a unicorn prancing unicorn on and laughed a little bit. Ryder then said "now that's the million dollar Marley Rose smile I haven't seen in a while." Then blushed as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Marley then countered with 'what are you talking about? I smiled sarcastically today at lunch when you attempted to converse with Sam in Na'vi." "That's not the same, Marley." Ryder said. "Ever since, sectionals, you've been more, I don't know, closed off than usual…" Ryder sensed he touched upon a sensitive subject. In an attempt to keep from losing her temper, she replied "maybe the jokes aren't as funny anymore." and went back to filing music. Ryder dropped the chairs he was attempting to stack and said "you can drop the passive-aggressive "Perks of being a Wallflower" crap, you know. If you can't open up to any of us in Glee club, then you won't have anyone to lean on. We're your FRIENDS. We actually care about you and it's killing us to see you go through this. And another thing, it hurt when you lied to me about never taking laxatives. I realize you probably think I'm just another asshole jock who only cares about sex, but believe me, I don't have many real friends and, I don't know, seeing someone I care about just collapse on stage scared me." He finished with a defeated look. He stared at her hard and long and said "well, I just practically poured my heart out to you. You want to explain why you did all that to yourself? Please, just stop shutting me out." He said staring at her waiting for a response.

Marley sat on the piano bench, with all the walls she built up between her and the world crumbling. Even now weeks after fainting at sectionals, she still hasn't been able to admit to anyone, much less herself why she put her mind and body through so much hell. Despite all the lectures from doctors, her mom , Mr. Shue, Finn and Ms. Pillsbury, she still felt a disgusting and aching feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she's forced to eat. She tasted every bit of self-hatred and regret every time her Glee friends watched her at lunch to make sure she was eating something. After lunch, whenever she passed the bathroom, she felt tempted to go and release every bad feeling she felt as soon as she ate. She knew she wasn't strong enough to keep everything hidden away. She felt as if she was on a ledge, ready to slip at any moment if she didn't have anyone to confide in. But now in that moment after Ryder's tantrum, something snapped. All emotions she felt: anger, resentment, disappointment, hatred, regret and sadness, rushed through the floodgates of her heart. Something about disappointing Ryder and hearing him say how much he cared for her broke her. But now, her only dilemma was whether she could trust him enough to stay, despite whatever happened to her. She sat at the piano with all her defenses shut down. She had nothing else to lose, really. What could it hurt to open up to someone?

"Ok, I don't know why I did it! I don't know why I feel like there's something wrong with me, but I just know there is! And I guess, if I just make myself throw up and starve myself enough, maybe I'll just disappear and every thing will get better! I'm not like everyone else in Glee club, I can't just sing away everything I feel! No matter what I do, it's never enough to make someone care about me enough to stay. I always thought that if maybe I kept to myself and never hurt anyone, things would get better, but they haven't, so I guess I was just desperate to feel something, just to make me feel…alive." "_Wow, I guess I just sounded like a total suicidal freak. No wonder I've never said that aloud to Ms. Pillsbury or the doctors. They all would've tossed my ass in rehab." _She thought to herself after her tirade. Little did she know, that Mr. Shue, Santana, Unique, Blaine, Sam, Brittany, Artie, Tina, and Finn all happened to be outside the door listening to Marley and Ryder's conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

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A/N: As requested by totalgleek16, here is the next chapter of STFBO! This was actually only supposed to be a short story, but as the ideas kept flowing, I couldn't help myself! For now, the story is far from over and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I promise to update really soon, but for now, I'm going to stop because Glee is airing here on the east coast super soon! By the way, am I the only one that hopes that Ryder will fight for his girl in the "Diva" episode? Anyone? Oh and as always. I own nothing associated with Glee! And if I did, Ryley would be a reality and Ryder wouldn't be stalked by an insane cheerio with a neck brace and Jake and Kitty would be far, far away shacked up in a trailer park! Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and views and please review STFBO J

Just as Ryder went over to the piano to comfort a crying Marley, they all walked in and pulled chairs in front of the piano to talk to her. Mr. Shue started "Ms. Pillsbury told me you haven't been exactly honest with yourself about the bulimia. So we figured we'd have a little intervention. Luckily, you and Ryder seem to be cut from the same cloth so you finally opened up to someone. I took a look at your permanent record, and talked to your mom to learn a little bit about you. I don't know what happened to you that would make you feel like you have to lock away a part of yourself, but everything is different now. You have people here that care about you, but that's not going to help until you learn that you're so much more than just a great voice." Blaine then said "Mr. Shue's right. I know that all the crap you've been put through might make you feel like things are never going to get better, but trust me, it's not the end of the world. You have so much to look forward to. Don't let all your demons chase you down." Marley finally looked up and said "Sometimes I just think there's something wrong with me. I can't please anyone! And then, I have to keep it together all the time. I can't be perfect anymore." She looked dejected and miserable as she said this. Artie said in an effort to comfort her "None of us are perfect. That's why we're in Glee. We don't fit in anywhere except this choir room. I mean, I'm in a wheelchair, Finn can't dance, Tina lied about having a stutter, Sam and Ryder are dyslexic, Rachel was really annoying, Puck slept his way through McKinley, and the list just goes on and on. You don't have to hide who you are. We may lose our way sometimes and act judgmental, but we will never turn you away. You don't have to pretend to be something you're not just because you think you'll never have any friends." Santana jumped in "It's true. I may have looked like I had it all, being the head bitch up in here, but I never had a real place where I could be myself until Glee. And if anyone tries to bring you down, we will all be sure to go all Lima heights on their asses!" The group laughed as Santana said this. Unique moved next to her friend and said "You know what I see when I see you? I see the girl who rocked her Grease audition with a kick-ass rendition of "(Blow Me) One Last Kiss" and encouraged Unique to be true to herself. Now, we're going to show you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you." Unique said warmly to her depressed friend.

Sam picked up a guitar and said "I know you said that you can't just sing away what you feel, but it really helps. And we're all here to back you up if you want." Tina piped up " I think I know the perfect song to sing, if you want to take the lead…" She said as Tina and Unique took each of her hands. "Marley looked up at her friends with a small smile and said "Ok, let's do it." Mr. Shue walked to the risers with Finn, Ryder, and Artie and said with a smile "Well guys, let's give the ladies some room." Marley, Santana, Tina, Unique and Brittany pulled some stools to the center of the room, while Blaine moved to play the piano and Sam steadied his guitar. Santana started with the opening verses of Florence and the Machine's "Shake It Out" and the other girls joined in with Marley taking the lead vocals. When the song was over, Marley was crying but because she finally felt like a weight had been lifted. She said as Brittany and Unique threw their arms around her, "I can't believe you guys did this for me. Even after I ruined sectionals. Thank you so much." She said with fresh tears in her eyes. Finn then said "Stop beating yourself up for that. Everything happens for a reason. And what kind of friends would we be if we didn't help you when you needed it?" Brittany said "Lord Tubbington always feels better after a group hug, so maybe we should have one now?" Everyone got up and embraced Marley and she really felt better when she was finally released. She knew it would be a rough road ahead of her but she finally knew she wasn't alone.

After some impromptu singing with the Glee club, Ryder and Marley made their way to his blue Ford F-150. Once reaching the truck, Ryder moved some of his stuff and helped Marley into the passenger seat. He got in and started the truck. Ryder drove out of the school parking lot, and said "You know what? I still haven't made up for that date I cancelled. How about we get a pizza and hang out and watch a movie or something?" He suggested hopefully. "Ok that sounds great. My mom's not going to be back until tomorrow morning, so we can hang out my place?" Marley said with a wholehearted smile. "Cool!" Ryder replied with a smile, then awkwardly added. "Are you sure it's fine we hang out at your place with your mom gone? I know how parents are about that, and I'd hate for you to get in trouble!" "Oh don't worry it'll be fine." Marley said feeling a little bit risky. She was sick of always playing it safe. Why couldn't she let loose a little bit, and not's like anything would happen would it? Besides her mom had never given her any protocol for guys over at her house and even trusted her alone with Jake Puckerman a month ago, although that might not have been the best idea considering what happened. Her common sense tried to push that incident in her head, as her heart urged her to take a chance with the sweet football player. They would just hang out as friends, and see what would happen.

Ryder ordered the food at a little roadside place which wasn't much to look at but had some really amazing pizza. While they waited for the food, they played at the pinball machine in the back of the dining room. They had so much fun and laughed so easily that Marley forgot all her problems. Today was definitely shaping up to be better than she thought it was. As the two wrestled playful at the machine, Ryder placed his hands on her waist to pull her around and before he knew what he was doing, he pushed Marley's long, dark hair out of her face and leaned in to kiss her, much like the opening night of Grease, trying to put all the words he was afraid to say to her in that kiss. Apparently, the message was well-received, because after they broke apart and looked at each other with wide eyes for a few awkward seconds trying to process what happened, Marley finally wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed her lips square unto his and pushed herself as close as possible to his chest and felt their hearts beating together. Ryder's strong hands lifted her tiny waist up on the pinball machine and kissed her back, opening her mouth up a little bit and exploring her with his tongue. They forgot where they where until the awkward sound of throat clearingbroke them up.

Ryder and Marley reluctantly looked in the direction of the noise and found themselves looking at the surprised faces of fellow new directioners Tina, Blaine, Santana, Finn, Unique, Artie, Sam and Brittany. Blaine broke up the awkward silence "Hey guys. I see you're feeling better Marley." "Ummm…" replied Marley and Ryder awkwardly blushing at the situation. Everyone else just snickered at their embarrassment. The manager broke up the group and handed Ryder the pizza they ordered and said winking as Ryder grabbed Marley's hand to lead her out the door, "Be careful, it's really hot." and walked back to the kitchen. Finn then grabbed Ryder's shoulder and clandestinely said with worried, brotherly eyes, "Seriously Ryder, there isn't any need to score a touchdown in the first quarter. If you get my drift." Ryder looked a little confused and Brittany added seriously "Ryder, don't be silly, wrap your willy because everyone's got a random." directing her eyes to Marley. Everyone laughed except for Santana, who said "Ryder, you seriously pressure her into anything, and I will go all Lima Heights on your ass! And do you know what happens to horny pervs in Lima Heights? Bad things! If you want to keep the boys intact, you'd better watch it!" Sam and Blaine held off Santana long enough for Ryder to escape her death stare, and followed Marley's lead out the door. Once outside in the cold December air, Marley and Ryder burst out laughing at what happened in there and Ryder wrapped her closer to him as they walked to his truck. Once again like a true gentleman, Ryder put the pizza in the center of the front and tried to help Marley in the truck. She slipped on the ice on the foothold and Ryder caught her, and put her on the seat. They stared deep into each other's eyes until Marley giggled "Ummm Ryder, I think the food's going to get cold." Ryder snapped back to reality and said "Oh um, right. Yeah I should probably start the truck." As he turned to go to the drivers side, he accidentally walked into her door and tried to play it cool while hoping she thought he wasn't a total spaz. Ryder gave himself a mental pep talk while starting the truck and thought to himself:_ Focus Ryder. This isn't the first time you've hung out with a girl! DON'T BLOW IT! _Then he realized Marley wasn't like any other girl. He saw both pain and love in her wide-set cerulean blue eyes. He realized that he almost let this girl slip away twice before, and that wasn't going to happen again. He took hold of her hand, and said "You ready?" meaning so much more than simply leaving the pizza place.

As Ryder drove down the highway in silence with one hand on the wheel and the other grasping her small hand, she tried to make sense of what was happening. Could she open herself up to him? Yeah, sure Ryder was the stereotypical quarterback who always seemed to be in control, but she's seen his defenses slip too. Maybe Ryder was so much more than meet the eye. She glanced sideways at his eyes and a memory from her past hit her like a ton of bricks. She saw those same eyes when she was six years old the day her dad left. It was an early morning and she was still asleep. Marley sensed that someone was watching her and she turned towards the open door ever so slightly. Her dad was taking one last look at the world he was leaving behind in search of what he thought was something better. They locked eyes for a long second and Marley felt the apology in his eyes before his eyes welled up and he picked up a bag and walked to the door. Marley was unaware of his true intentions. For all she knew, he was just going to work as usual. That was the last memory she ever had of him. As soon as this image was leaving her mind to go back to rest, another memory, a more recent one played back in her mind. It was the night of her date with Jake. All Jake claimed they did was play SongPop, but he said that to erase any guilt he had. While Marley's subconscious tried to repress what happened, sitting in the truck with Ryder brought it back to the surface. Jake used his Puckerman charm and took advantage of the hold it had on Marley. They really were playing SongPop…until Jake must've gotten bored. He managed to seduce Marley into almost having sex with him. Her had her underneath him, ready to seal the deal, until Marley freaked out, "I'm not ready for this Jake. Can we please just take it slow?" she pleaded. He suddenly got an annoyed look in his eyes and said as he got up to leave "Whatever, they all said you were nothing but a cheap tease." "Who?" squeaked out Marley suddenly feeling smaller than ever before. "Kitty and the other cheerios. Speaking of Kitty, she's not reluctant to put out. Oh and another thing, you might want to use more breath mints if you plan on puking after every meal." He said out of spite as he slammed Marley's door to leave. That was the last straw for her. How could she expect to control the reins of the bad boy of McKinley if she couldn't keep her own problems locked up?! Without thinking, she barreled into the bathroom and shoved the handle of her toothbrush down her throat, even though she hadn't eaten anything. After about ten minutes of dry heaving, she gave up, clutching her hurting stomach. She finally crumpled down next to the tub in defeat. She glanced in the mirror at her tear streaked face with a fresh hickey low on her neck and wondered how she lost so much control.

Ryder sensed she was deep in thought when he reached her house. "Marley?" he said trying to get her attention. "Oh. Um yeah let's go inside, it's really cold out here." she said busying herself with the seatbelt and trying to find her house key in her bag. Ryder gently grabbed her wrist and said "If there's something wrong, we can do this another time." looking deeply at her. All the alarms in her head were going off, telling her to run inside and leave Ryder and his Justin Beiber hair out here in the snow, but her heart took over as she looked at Ryder's soulful and safe eyes and said "Come on. It's nothing. Now let's go inside." She said with her best seductive smile. Whatever would happen would happen for a reason right?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey! For the interest of my privacy, I changed my username, but this is the continuation of STFBO! I can't believe this is only my first fanfiction! I didn't think anyone would read it, so i'm super flattered there are a few who are showing interest in this story. And i'm sorry I portrayed Jake to be a bad guy but he is a Puckerman, so sorry Jarley fans, but all good things must end! There are more things in store for this couple also, so please bear with me and the long chapters. As always, please review and keep following the story! Disclaimer: I own none of the characters of Glee or any of the pop culture references mentioned! Again, if I owned Glee, Jarley would be endgame! Please keep reading :) Btw, funny story: I had a hard time posting this earlier, so I emailed my draft to my BFF who so graciously fixed my paragraphing so the conversations flowed better! Oh and I changed the rating to T, hope everyone agrees these changes from previous chapters are for the better :)**

Marley took Ryder's hand and led him into the house, accepting that if nothing happened, it was totally fine. She definitely doesn't want Ryder to think she's easy. She could only imagine the rumors that Kitty would concoct in case Ryder started bragging in the locker room. They walked into her kitchen and Ryder started to heat up the pizza while Marley got them something to drink.

Ryder looked up at her and said "You know, I'm really proud of you. I seriously thought you'd just shut down when we confronted you. It takes a really strong person to open up like you did today."

"Or maybe it took a strong person to find a way to get me to open up." She replied.

"Nah," He said, "if I was strong I would've told someone what you were doing when I found out what you were doing to yourself."

"And if I was stronger, I wouldn't have let some bitchy bottle blonde cheerleader make me feel so insecure." she said with a sad expression. "Marley, it happens to the best of us. We all have someone who makes us feel less than what we are. Look at me, I felt like crap when I thought you picked Jake over me. I even considered getting a mini jew-fro because I thought that was what turned you on."

At that, Marley laughed. Then said with a mischievous smile, "Oh thank God you didn't do that. I don't mind old-school Justin Bieber hair."

Ryder suddenly found himself holding her in front of the fridge with her thin arms snaked around his neck, hands stroking his smooth hair, sending chills up and down his spine. He leaned down to give her a gentle kiss. When they broke apart, she whispered "Let's get the pizza and watch a movie in the living room, ok?"

"Ok," he murmured in agreement.

After they settled down in the living room, Marley found the tape of one of her favorite Christmas movies _White Christmas. _She turned it on and covered Ryder and herself with a blanket and they ate their food. Ryder couldn't help but think to himself that this is what a good life was and pictured himself doing this every year with this same girl by his side.

During the movie with him absentmindedly playing with strands of her hair, he asked her simply: "Why don't you guys have a Christmas tree?" She answered sadly, "Because we can't afford it. Anything my mom can scrape up is going to pay for a therapist to help deal with my…problem. I mean, I know I should focus on getting better, but I can't help but feel like it's not Christmas without a tree."

"Well," said Ryder as he got up and pulled Marley up with him, "we are going to fix that. Do you have any paper and stuff?"

"Yeah," she said, "but how are we going to make a tree?"

"You've seen _A Charlie Brown Christmas _right? One thing I've learned from that movie is that the best trees may not look that special until you decorate them with those you love. We are going to make the best tree in the world and it won't cost anything."

She giggled "You're so cheesy, you know that?" As she got some old newspaper, green paint, glitter glue, and construction paper, and scissors from a box by the old desk in her small living room.

She and Ryder got to work making a completely decked out Christmas tree. A couple of hours later with most of the paint and glitter glue all over themselves, they taped their makeshift tree on the window, where it shined against the glow of the full moon and snow. Marley stood in front of the window with Ryder wrapped around her waist, admiring their work.

As Ryder softly kissed her neck, Marley whispered with a smile, "Thank you, it's so beautiful. This is the greatest present anyone has ever given me."

Ryder murmured in her ear, "well you definitely come a close second to the train set that Santa gave me when I six." Marley stuck her tongue out at him and playfully nudged him.

Ryder laughed and said "Hey, I was just kidding!" and dragged her down on top of him on the couch and started tickling her stomach.

Marley laughed and said "No, stop that Ryder!" He held his hands up in surrender and brought them down and rested them on her waist so he was holding her up on his lap.

She put her hands in his hair and Ryder ran his hands up and down her sides, and they leaned into each other to kiss. But this time, they both lost any sense of self-control when their lips touched. The kiss soon got passionate and both were in need of air.

Then Ryder moved his lips to her neck, lowering the sweater she had on. It took Marley everything in her not to scream out in ecstasy. Ryder's touch felt like an electric current on her skin. Marley suddenly got up and dragged Ryder with her, moving towards her bedroom.

Once the door was shut, it was like their bodies became one. Marley's hands were everywhere trying to touch as much as Ryder as possible before she tore his shirt off his broad and tanned chest. Marley pushed him down onto her bed and braced herself on top of him. Ryder took off her shirt moved his hands to her waist, playing with the waistband of her jeans, slowly starting to unbutton them. Ryder then got a thought and dug out his wallet, looking for the condom his dad always told him to keep in there, in case of moments like this. When Marley saw the foil wrapper however, something inside of her snapped.

She got a scared look on her face, which did not go unnoticed by Ryder. "Hey, you ok Marls? We don't have to do this if you're not ready.", he said holding her up with a genuine look on his face.

Tears started falling down her face as she said miserably, "Why do I always get myself in these situations? Why do I always freak out when a guy wants to have sex with me?"

Ryder then got a shocked expression on his face and asked, "Wait a minute, what do you mean? Did someone do something to you?" She nodded her head in embarrassment.

He handed her his t-shirt to put on and they sat next to each other on her bed as he pressed her for more details. "It was…" she started,

"Let me guess, Jake?" He finished grimly, then let out a frustrated sigh.

"I wouldn't blame you if you left now." She added miserably.

He grabbed her face and looked at her straight in the eye as he proclaimed, "Marley, if you're not ready, you're not ready. No one should pressure you into this. Your first time should be special, not something that happened in the heat of the moment. I'm sorry, I should've known this was too much and stopped before it got this far. I feel terrible. And by the way, Jake was an idiot for hurting you. And…." he finished blushing.

"And what?" she pressed.

"Marley, I've been in love with you since the first time I saw you in the hallway after my Grease audition." he stated sheepishly.

Marley gave him a shocked expression and broke the awkward silence between them. "Really? You could have any other girl in the world. I should've given you the benefit of the doubt when you broke our date. I'm sorry Ryder, I guess I just asked Jake out after that to spite Kitty. I can't believe I was so stupid to think that you were ditching me, and Jake might've actually cared." She said looking down, hesitant to meet Ryder's soulful brown eyes.

Ryder took her trembling hands in his strong ones and said, "Marley, I should've fought harder so you wouldn't slip away, but all that doesn't matter anymore. All that's important is that we eventually found each other and I will do whatever it takes to make this work. I know it won't be easy, but nothing worth fighting for ever is.".

"Ryder, I love you too. I was scared because we accept the love we think we deserve. But, I'm really glad we both know how we really feel about each other." She said smiling at the sweet boy she had fallen in love with.

Ryder pushed her hair behind her head and said "You deserve so much more than you think." He kissed her head, and she snuggled closer to him and he held her closely never wanting to let her go.

They talked for hours until about 6am when they saw that dawn was coming soon. He reluctantly got up to leave and put on his hoodie and WMHS letter jacket. She started to take off his shirt that he let her wear, and he stopped her.

"Keep it, it looks better on you." Before he left, he tucked her in bed and kissed her one more time. "Good night Marls, and I swear, I'll call you later."

"Ok." She said, then added "Ryder, you're not going to get in trouble for being out all night are you?"

"No." he said simply. "My parents are in Cincinnati at a medical conference on some riverboat on the Ohio river." He said with his eyes rolling. "I think they're using it as an excuse to have some time away for themselves, so they let my aunt in Cleveland take care of my little brother and sister, and are trusting me to stay in Lima alone to watch the house. They won't be back until next week."

"Oh that sounds lonely." she said.

"Yeah well, if they hadn't have left, I wouldn't have had the nerve to spend the night with an amazing girl." he winked at her.

"Just go before the neighbors wake up!" she laughed. "We don't want to besmirch our flawless reputations, now would we?"

"I don't care how many people know, honestly. Only we know what really happened. And even though nothing happened, last night was pretty amazing." he replied.

"No offense, but I'm kind of glad we didn't go all the way. Then it wouldn't have meant anything." she said in relief. "Me too. Sweet dreams baby." he said as he finally left.

Once he closed the front door to leave, she rushed out of bed, and watched his truck pull out of the driveway, laughing as he almost backed into their trash cans. She took a look in her mirror at this new Marley Rose wondering how everything changed so suddenly. She smiled with newfound confidence and took a shower. She pulled on some sleep shorts and Ryder's t-shirt when she was done and climbed back into her bed, holding the pillow that Ryder used last night, breathing in his musky smell and peacefully drifted off to sleep, wondering how she got so lucky.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'M BAAACK! Sorry it took so long to update! There are actually a couple of really good reasons for that. First of all, I'm a college student and I had a lot of homework and stuff, on top of the fact that it is midterms this week. Second, I didn't have much inspiration due to all the jarley action (or lack thereof, so to speak) on the actual show. I was kind of in a rut on where I wanted to take the story, so I figured I could pull out one or two more chapters, then do a sequel if I found a good segue into it. Luckily, I did. Perk of being the storyteller here ;) so I'm leaving this on a happy ending for now, but don't get too used to it! Also, I'm posting the last chapter tonight also and this weekend i'm posting a totally unrelated ryley story I made up when I got inspired by the ryley cliffhanger in "i do" and I came up with a concept that hadn't yet been explored on the show and thought it would be interesting to write about. Plus, I get a sick joy from villifying Jake! Especially after the douche bag moves he made in that particular episode. And when I get back from spring break after starting the sequel to SOTFBO, I will post that on here. You're welcome. Now on to the story! And as always, I own nothing related to Glee. But I wish I did :)**

Around 10:30 that morning, Marley's mom Millie Rose, called informing her daughter that she would be home in a couple of hours. Marley woke up groggily wondering if last night was a dream until she saw that she was wearing Ryder's McKinley gym shirt and smiled. After Marley talked to her mom, she regretted waking up from the sweet dream about her and Ryder, and decided to get dressed. After quickly changing into jeans and a shirt, she ran downstairs to clean up the living room before her mom came back home. She sat down on the couch when she was done and found herself staring at the tree that her and Ryder made. She finally had to admit to herself, she was in full-on, Nicholas Sparks-style mode, LOVE with Ryder Lynn. She loved the way he made her feel, even before they were, well, together. In the short time Marley was interested in Jake, she felt like she always had to fight for his attention. And Ryder was such a better kisser than Jake! Making out with Jake was like getting the sloppy seconds of every girl before her. He was forceful and didn't make it feel special. In his mind, she was just another notch in his belt, a prize to be bragged about to all his buddies in the locker room. Ryder, however, made her feel alive. He kissed her like she was the only girl in the world. She loved how their heartbeats matched each other when they kissed. They fit together perfectly. Nothing felt forced between them. Why didn't she realize this when they worked together during Grease?! Oh well, she figured. If she hadn't have had the bad experience with Jake Puckerman, she wouldn't be appreciating how truly special Ryder is.

Millie came home and found her daughter in a deep reverie on the couch, staring at what appeared to be a paper Christmas tree on the window, with the biggest smile she'd ever seen on her face. The sight of seeing Marley the happiest she'd been in forever warmed her heart.

"What's that you're looking at?"

"Oh, ummm…" Marley blushed. "Ryder Lynn and I hung out last night and we made that together because he noticed we didn't have a tree." she finished sheepishly.

"Hmm. So it's safe to say he made up for that date he cancelled?" Millie said as she settled down on the couch next to her daughter.

"Yeah, I'd say so." she smiled in confirmation.

"Well, based on that hickey on your neck, he's more than made up for it." Millie said slyly.

Marley instinctively put a hand on her neck where her mom pointed and said "I swear nothing happened! We just kissed…".

"Well because we don't exactly have any rules for this type of situation, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time, but in the future please be careful. I don't want you to ruin your whole future all because you guys felt the time was right. I know what it's like, being young and in love, thinking with your body and soul instead of your head." Wow, her mom really could see right through her!

"Ok mom, I promise. I won't make you a grandma anytime soon." "Ok baby!" Millie laughed. She then noticed the halfhearted look on Marley's face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing, but do you ever regret being married to dad?" Marley asked with wide eyes.

"Well," Millie started. Marley had never asked about her father in the ten years since he's left. "If I ever had any regrets then you wouldn't be here now would you? Yes, it hurts that he walked out, but that was his own fault. There's nothing you, me or anyone else could've said or done to stop him. When it was good, we had a great relationship, but we grew up and it just fell apart." She told Marley. "And just because your dad left, doesn't mean you should give up on love. Ryder seems like a really great kid, and it wouldn't be fair to him if you gave up on something great before it even started because you're afraid that he'll hurt you. Ryder is not the same man your dad is."

"Thanks mom. I really think I'm falling for him. I know you probably think I'm too young to feel this way about a guy, but-" Marley started before her mom cut her off.

"Marley, love knows no age. Some people are just too immature to know what true, unselfish love feels like. Yes, you've been hurt, but all that means is that you know when someone truly cares about you. Please give him a chance sweetie, I haven't seen you like this in forever, and I kind of like this new you." she told her daughter with a smile.

"Thanks mom, you always give me the best advice." As Marley leaned over to hug her mom, her cell phone rang and she pulled it out to see who was calling. As soon as Marley saw it was Ryder on the caller ID, her face lit up. Marley's mom gestured for her to go take the call, so Marley ran upstairs for privacy. Millie laughed, and then silently thanked the Heavens for this happier version of Marley.

Since the night of Ryder and Marley's "date", they were now considered a couple. Only a few people knew however. They weren't ready for everyone to make a huge deal out of it. God only knows that Kitty and Jake would do whatever it took to drive a wedge between them. Honestly, Marley didn't care if anyone knew or didn't know. She felt like for once in her life, she was putting her happiness first. It was scary for her to take that jump out of the friend zone with Ryder, but it was worth it. He was the best boyfriend in the world! With his crazy basketball schedule over break, they didn't see each other much before Christmas. He called and texted her everyday though. When Marley got a cold a couple of days into break, her mom was working at Breadstixs to make some extra money and couldn't take care of her. Luckily, coach Beiste called off practice that day so Ryder went over to Marley's house with a couple of cans of chicken noodle soup and some movie rentals. When Ryder rung the door bell, Marley opened the door in surprise and instantly felt better when she saw her wonderful boyfriend smiling at her.

"Ryder! Oh my God, I thought you had practice all day?!"

"Coach cancelled it. I saw that as a sign from the universe that I should be here instead of playing Call of Duty with the guys." he said with that beautiful, crooked smile on his face.

"Oh, you didn't have to do all this. I mean, I probably look and sound like something a cat dragged in." She said insecurely wrapping a blanket around herself. "You look gorgeous. Besides, I should be here for you in sickness and in health. Although we'd probably have a lot more fun if this was the latter." He replied grinning slyly at her.

"Yes, but we aren't married are we?" She said laughing at him. "Hmmm well, looks like we'll have to fix that small oversight later now won't we?" He said as he picked her up and put her on the couch next to her.

"Shut up and just hold me, Ryder." She said giggling softly at him. "Wait a minute, I don't know if my mom would be too happy to know that you're here and we're alone in the house now." she said apprehensively.

"It's fine." he assured her. "I tried calling you this morning when coach cancelled practice to see if you had any plans, but your mom was the one that picked up the phone. She said that you were sick, but that I could come over so someone was taking care of you. As long as there's no 'hanky panky' in her words going on." he added hastily.

"Well I think me being sick kind of shot that horse in the face." she laughed. "Do you want anything to drink? I can go get us something…" she added, attempting to untangle herself from Ryder's strong grip.

"No." he simply stated. _I'll_ go get us something. You just relax and focus on getting better." He said pushing her back down and covering her with another blanket.

"Ok fine, can you get me some Sunny D? The cups are in the cabinet above the fridge." she said.

"Your wish is my command. And I brought some movies too. What should we watch first, _The Notebook _or _The Vow_? He asked. "I love both of those movies, but we should watch _The Notebook_! It's my all-time favorite movie!" she replied earnestly. "Ok then." he said as he popped the movie in her DVD player. Before he went into the kitchen, he kissed her on the forehead and said, "Your head is really hot, do you want any Tylenol or anything?"

"Yeah sure. It's on the kitchen table. There's also some Benadryll too. Do you mind?"

"Not at all babe. I'll be right back." he said.

When he came back, Marley took the medicine and relaxed into Ryder's arms watch the movie. He gave her a relaxing neck massage and whispered all of Ryan Gosling's most romantic lines in her ear. _This must be what heaven is like_. She thought in contentment. She eventually fell asleep with her head on a pillow propped on Ryder's lap. While she was asleep, Ryder's phone was being blown up with texts from his buddies begging him to go and play some pick-up game somewhere, but Ryder didn't want to go. Even though he'd never admit it to his friends, this girl had him wrapped around her finger and he actually liked it. He liked the feeling that he was her knight in shining armor. He kind of got the sense that no one has ever done that for her. He liked making her feel wanted and loved.

"I love you Marley." he whispered softly into her ear as she slept. Although it was soft and barely audible, he was pretty sure she replied, "I love you too Ryder."

A couple of hours later, Marley woke up on the couch with a start. "Ryder, where are you?"

"I'm right here, babe." He said walking into the room. "I had to go to the bathroom, I hope I didn't wake you."

"No, I'm fine. What time is it?" she asked.

"It's about 2 o'clock. Do you want anything?"

"Mmmm, I am a little bit hungry." she replied.

"Ok, I'll go make us some soup." he said as he headed back towards her kitchen.

"No I got it, whoa." she said feeling a little woozy as she rushed up from the couch.

"Whoa, steady there. Let me take care of you." He said as he steadied her and tried to get her to sit back down.

"I'm fine, I just want to get up for a few minutes, stretch my legs." "Ok." he said as she took hold of his hand.

When they were in the kitchen, Ryder and Marley started to heat up the soup he brought. When Ryder had a hard time handling her can opener, she gently pushed him away and took over. "You have a hard time letting anyone do anything for you, don't you?" He observed.

"I guess I've never really noticed. I've always learned to do stuff on my own." she shrugged.

"Well it's not a bad thing to let someone help you every once in a while." He gently told her as he took the can and spoon out of her hands.

"Ok fine, I give in." she said in mock defeat. "Why me Ryder? You could have had any girl but you chose me…"

"Because you aren't like any other girls. You're special. Why don't you see that?" he said in exasperation.

"Because no one, besides my mom, has ever made me feel special." she told him quietly.

"You are special. I have no idea what exactly this is we're getting into, but you're worth it. No one has ever made me feel the way you make me feel."

"Ok, have I told you that you are unbelievably amazing?" she said smiling at him. "Yeah, Rod Remington's interviewing me tonight for a news story about it." he said smirking at her and leaning down to kiss her on the nose. "Now will you please go sit back down? I promise, I won't burn down your kitchen! I'll bring in the food." He said pushing her out of the kitchen.

They spent the rest of the day watching movies together, until Marley's mom came home at around 8pm. As Ryder was about to leave, he handed Marley a medium sized, red and gold envelope.

"I told my parents about you and they really want to meet you, so they told me to invite you to our Christmas eve dinner party. It's this really pretentious thing for some of their friends and colleagues. They do it every year and I hate it but if you came, it might be more fun. But you really don't have to go if you don't want to." he said.

"No, I would really love to go! It's kind of a formal thing right?" she asked. "Yeah, is that a problem?"

"No it's not! I have some church dresses and stuff. It sounds, kind of fun."

"Ok, yeah, well I'll text you later, and we'll work out the details. Bye, Marls!" He said, kissing her on the cheek as he was leaving.

"Bye Ryder! Please don't hit the trash cans as you leave." she said giggling.

When he left, she rushed into the kitchen to show her mom the invitation.

"Ooh he really likes you doesn't he?" Millie said as she read it.

"Yeah, I really hope so. I just hope I don't embarrass myself in front of his parents." she said in earnest.

"Well Marley, I'll dry-clean your dress and clean up your black heels. You, just go upstairs and get to bed and get better. The party is in a couple of days and I want you as healthy as possible."

"Ok mom. Thank you so much!" Marley said as she hugged her mom and went upstairs to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: And here is that last chapter of STFBO! I expected this to be a one-shot, but it took on a life of it's own! I'm flattered by the people who took an interest in the story, and if you want to fangirl via twitter over the sheer awesomeness that is ryley, we shall :) I especially want to give a special S/O to totalgleek16 who was part of my inspiration for continuing the story. I really love your stories too by the way! And another S/O to spiritpixie who serves as my beta and helps me out so much with this! I know I probably annoy you in the SSU library over my incessant ryley obsession, but thank you so much for understanding :) This may be the end of STFBO, but I have a sequel coming up that will be posted in a couple of weeks because I have spring-break coming up, so i'll be able to focus on the story development. I'll also be posting another ryley fanfic that is loosely inspired by the ryley cliffhanger from "i do". Speaking of that...i'm usually good at predicting Glee plotlines, but I saw none of that coming! Except for Emma pulling a runaway bride, but that was only because I cheated by reading wepaint's glee spoilers! Oh and about the identity of Rachel's baby daddy! (Come on, we all saw her face. She's prego with an eggo!) IT HAS TO BE FINN'S! Logically speaking, the scene with the dayplanner was intended to be a flash-forward POV. The month she was looking at was March, so the story will pick up after the 3-week hiatus. End of story. And the Ryley kiss! She felt something, I know it! Ryley will happen! They have more chemistry anyway and Jake couldn't even be bothered to come up with his own ideas except on how to get laid. **

**Before you start reading this, another note about the setting. I'm actually from Ohio, but I'm not from Lima. I'm from a small-town about 3 hours south called Chillicothe, which was the first capital when Ohio became a state in 1801. I know nothing about Lima, so if I get anything wrong about it, I'm sorry. The inspiration for Ryder's home is the Adena Mansion and Gardens. It's a beautiful place with a overlook over Chillicothe which was rumored to be the inspiration for the state seal of Ohio. I would suggest looking it up so you can see the actual home.**

**As always, I own nothing related to Glee. Please enjoy the story :)**

On Christmas eve, Marley was busily getting ready for the party.

"Mom, how does this look?" Marley asked she walked downstairs to show off the outfit that she was planning to wear. She was wearing a knee-length, dark green dress with a pair of black heels. Marley wanted to make a good impression on his family and was really nervous as she got ready.

"Oh honey you look beautiful! Wait a minute; I have the perfect thing to go with that!" Millie said as she ran to her bedroom while Marley stood in front of the mirror in the hallway making adjustments to her hair and makeup.

A few moments later, Millie came back with a small velvet covered jewelry box. "I was waiting for a special moment to give this to you. My mother gave this to me when I was a couple of years older than you. Your dad was preparing to ask me to marry him on Christmas eve and this was the necklace that my father gave her on their wedding anniversary. It feels right to finally pass it down." she said with tears in her eyes.

Marley opened the box to see a simple and beautiful snowflake pendant on a thin silver chain. "Oh mom, it's gorgeous, I can't accept this!"

"Marley, yes you can. You need it more than I do now. Just try not to lose it." "Don't worry mom, I'll be careful with it. Can you help me put it on?" she asked holding out the necklace.

"Of course baby. There, you look perfect." Marley hugged her mom and thanked her. They were then interrupted by the door bell ringing.

"Oh I think it's Ryder!" Marley said rushing to get the door.

"Wow Marley, you look, wow. I don't know what to say right now." Ryder blushed as she opened the door.

" Aw you don't look too bad yourself." She smiled as she put on her coat and allowed Ryder to take her hand. He looked handsome in a simple black suit that accentuated his muscles very nicely.

"Close your eyes." He said with a sparkle in his eyes. "Ok." she said in trepidation as he led her down to what she thought was his truck. When she opened her eyes she was standing in front of a horse-drawn carriage.

"It's a thing my parents do for the guests when they park their cars at the end of our drive. My mom thought it'd be a great idea to pick you up in this. She's kind of a hopeless romantic." He said shrugging.

"It's amazing Ryder! This is too much. You are the greatest boyfriend in the world." she said smiling at him.

"Ah now we're labeling things?" he replied with a smirk.

"Ummm, well…" she started in embarrassment.

"It's fine, Marley. Just maybe we should make it Facebook official now." he said laughing.

"Just help me into the carriage Ryder." she said rolling her eyes at him. He picked her up and placed her in the seat of the carriage, then climbed up into the seat next to her.

"Ready to go?" he smiled at her.

"Yes!" Marley replied eagerly.

With that, the young couple were off, with the horse drawn carriage gliding along the back roads spiraling towards the nicer part of Lima. A half hour later, Marley and Ryder's making out in the carriage was interrupted. The carriage was going up a semi-steep country road, which leveled out into a smooth winding driveway, surrounded by trees on either side that were decked out in twinkling lights winding through the foliage. Soon enough, the carriage stopped in front of Ryder's house. If you can call it that. It was more of a 18th century, Victorian style, brick front mansion. It was amazing. Marley's jaw dropped in amazement, but Ryder looked thoroughly embarrassed.

"Yeah, this might be a little too much." Ryder mumbled.

"It's amazing! Why didn't you tell me you live here? My mom and I drive by this hill everyday and see this place, but we always thought some rich old lady lived here!" Marley gushed.

Ryder chuckled under his breath. "Well, if you think this is amazing, maybe I we should go in so you can see the rest of it." he said as he helped her out of the carriage so the others behind them could unload. They walked to the door where a doorman took their coats and Marley and Ryder both slipped him a tip.

"Ryder!" a voice coming from the staircase on the left side of the foyer exclaimed. "There you are! I was wondering where you were." a slim and beautiful brunette woman who must be Ryder's mom said as she stopped in front of them. "You must be Ryder's friend, Marley!" she gushed, leaning in to give Marley a small hug. "He's told us so much about you! I actually thought you were too good to be true." she joked, although that made Marley slightly uncomfortable.

"Mom!" Ryder grumbled, clearly embarrassed.

"It's so nice to meet you Mrs. Lynn. You have a gorgeous home! Thank you so much for inviting me here." Marley said earnestly.

"Oh, nonsense. Any friend of Ryder's is a friend of ours. And please, call me Janet. Mrs. Lynn makes me feel so old!" she said, leading Marley and Ryder to the living room, or technically "ballroom" of the home where the party was taking place. The three of them sat down in comfy chairs by the fireplace, while the waiters brought them some hors d'oeuvres and drinks and they started to make some small talk.

"So, you were amazing in Grease a few months ago! I honestly didn't realize McKinley had any fantastic performers after Rachel Berry graduated last year!" Janet gushed.

"Oh really? Well I just transferred to McKinley this year, so I never got the pleasure of meeting Rachel, except in passing when she watched the musical." Marley blushed.

"Oh Rachel is delightful! I'm a freelance journalist and I'm an editor for the society page in the Lima Times. I got to interview her last year after the Glee club won nationals. She told me she got accepted to the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts, and when we sat together opening night, she said she wouldn't be too surprised if you were on your way to New York City in a couple of years." Janet winked.

"Oh I don't think I'm good enough to go to a school there." Marley said, feeling her face getting red. "That's not true Marley! You have perfect grades and your voice is amazing! Don't doubt yourself." Ryder said smiling and squeezing her hand.

"I graduated from Columbia and my roommate majored in music there and now she's dean of admissions for the performing arts department. Maybe if things work out between you two when you're seniors, we'll have to discuss your options. It'd be a shame to let all your talent go to waste, Marley. Look at me, my family couldn't rub two pennies together and now I live like this. Anything is possible as long as you work for it." Janet said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go greet the other guests, but it was wonderful to meet you Marley. I can see why Ryder likes you so much." she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Thank you so much Janet! It was great to meet you too!" Marley gushed as Janet leaned in for another hug and left.

"Wow, I think you're the first girl she's actually taken a liking to." Ryder said once his mom was out of earshot.

"She's a really nice lady but I don't think she likes me that much." Marley replied blushing.

"That's crazy Marley! How can anyone meet you and not like you?" Ryder told her. "Well there's been a few-" Marley started before Ryder cut her off with a kiss. "They don't understand how special and amazing you are. Now, how about we go and find someplace private?" he whispered in her ear, sending chills up and down her spine.

"Why? Already bored at your own party?" Marley giggled, pulling away from Ryder's tantalizing grip. It was super hard to resist him. "We'll go later. Ok? It'll look a little trashy if we snuck off now." Marley promised him.

They were interrupted by a snark-filled voice.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Bieber 2.0 and the bargain basement Barbie." Kitty Wilde stated with a sneer on her face. She had ditched the high pony tail, so her face didn't look nearly as stretched out, but her rude demeanor still scared Marley. What was Kitty's problem with her?

"Listen Kitty. We aren't at school anymore. If you can't lay off Marley, I'm going to have you escorted out." Ryder stated firmly, standing by Marley's side.

"Oh that's right! I forgot your parents were actually smart! What happened with you, did it skip a generation or were you a charity case like your fat-ass girlfriend here? I see the bad gene in her DNA hasn't kicked in yet. Better enjoy this night before she crushes you during intercourse." Kitty said to them.

Before Ryder could retaliate, Marley nudged him and said: "She's not worth it. Let's just go." Before they could leave however, another person materialized.

"Kitty! There you are! Your parents sent me to look for you." a pretty blonde teenager said rolling her eyes, then stopped short when she saw Ryder.

"Claire?" he choked out with a shocked expression on his face.

"Wait you two know each other?" Kitty snapped.

"Yeah. Ryder's my ex. We went to the same school before he, transferred." the girl named Claire said, clearly embarrassed.

"Oh my God this town is too damn small!" Kitty cackled in delight. "This is the douche bag who-?" Kitty started before Claire deftly stepped on her toe.

"How do you two know each other?" Ryder asked in shock, silently agreeing with Kitty about the size of Lima.

"Kitty's my cousin. I'm staying with her while my parents are visiting my older brother at his air force base." Claire sighed.

"Oh ok." Ryder said in an attempt to make small talk. "How is Chris? I haven't seen him in forever." "He's fine. He misses home a lot." Claire replied; clearly they had some history.

"Ewww I'm getting bored by this lame attempt at sexual banter. If you two want to get naked, kindly excuse yourselves already." Kitty interrupted, trying to get a rise out of Marley who was holding Ryder's hand.

"Hi! I'm so sorry I didn't introduce myself before!" Claire finally acknowledged Marley's existence, probably in an attempt to change the subject. "It's fine." Marley said sweetly. "I'm Marley. I'm Ryder's _girlfriend._" putting extra emphasis on the word. "It's nice to meet you. It's hard to believe someone could actually be related to the spawn of Satan." Marley said, gesturing to Kitty.

Ryder failed to hold in a laugh as he spit out his drink when Marley said this. Kitty glared at Marley and Claire looked at her with a curious expression on her face. Kitty stormed off, almost knocking down a passing waiter.

"It was umm, great seeing you Ryder. Nice to meet you, Marley. Merry Christmas." Claire said awkwardly as she turned to follow Kitty.

"Bye!" Ryder and Marley said simultaneously as she left, then exchanged an awkward glance.

"Well, that was awkward." Ryder sighed, pulling Marley closer to him. "You're telling me." Marley agreed as she took his hand.

"Ry-Ry!" someone who latched her arms around Ryder's waist yelled.

"Tay-Tay!" Ryder laughed, picking the little girl up. She looked just like Ryder. She had his kind eyes and light brown hair. This must be his little sister. Unfortunately, she looked a little upset.

"What's up, tator-tot? Ryder asked, ruffling her hair a little bit when he noticed she was in distress.

"Tyler said Santa got into a wreck in his sleigh tonight and died, so I won't get my princess play set tomorrow!" she pouted.

"I said it was possible that it could happen!" a boy who looked just like Ryder, only younger and not as built, shouted indignantly. Obviously, this was their brother. "Taylor, trust me. Santa will be fine. He's been doing this thing forever. And how can he get into a wreck if he's flying in the air? Think about it." Ryder reasoned. Taylor giggled and gave her brother a big hug.

She then noticed Marley sitting next to Ryder. "Are you Ryder's girlfriend?" She asked excitedly. "You're really pretty; prettier than the last one!" she observed.

"Yes, I am. My name's Marley." Marley answered proudly, which made Ryder blush slightly.

"I'm Taylor, and this is my twin brother Tyler." Taylor introduced. She was clearly the talkative one of the two.

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys!" Marley said earnestly.

"Hey, I was wondering where you guys were!" a voice coming toward them announced. The voice belonged to a middle-aged man the same height as Ryder with a boyish face and slightly receding light brown hair. Obviously, this was Ryder's father. "You must be Ryder's girlfriend. My wife wouldn't shut up about you! I think she's already planning the wedding." He grinned jokingly, addressing Marley.

"Hi, I'm Marley Rose. It's so nice to meet you." Marley introduced herself.

"I'm Tom, Ryder's dad. It's such an honor to have you here with us. I see you've made quite the impression on not only my son, but the rest of the family as well. Oh, and thanks for helping get rid of the Wildes'. I really don't like them, but Mr. Wilde is on the board of directors at the hospital, so it's kind of a necessary evil to invite them to these things." he winked.

"Oh! If I offended anyone, I'm so sorry!" Marley started, slightly embarrassed. "Don't be sorry Marley. If that girl can't handle any criticism, she'll never make it in the real world." Tom reassured her. "I really hate to ask you guys this, but can you watch these two?" he gestured to the younger kids. "I don't want a repeat of last year." "Dad!" Tyler whined. "We're ten years old! We don't need to be watched!" "Sure, dad we'll watch them." Ryder grinned.

"Thanks guys! I owe you one. Nice to meet you Marley!" Tom yelled as he headed back towards the party.

"Hey, let's go to the basement and watch a movie." Ryder said standing up with Taylor in his arms and Marley holding his free hand. Tyler lead the group downstairs to the basement which was refurbished to be a private home theater. There was a big screen T.V. with a DVD player, Blu-Ray player, satellite receiver, and various gaming devices plugged in. On one wall was a massive shelf filled with movies and video games. There were some old-fashioned arcade games and a tabletop game center in one corner of the room. A massive sectional sofa was located in front of the T.V. and there was also an attached kitchen and doors leading to God knows wherever.

"What, no indoor pool or bowling alley?" Marley joked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Marls. We haven't got around to building it yet." Ryder replied seriously, then burst into laughter when she rolled her eyes at him. "I'll go find a movie; can you go into the kitchen and make some popcorn?" Ryder asked her.

"I'll help!" Taylor shouted pulling Marley into the kitchen. Ryder chuckled and pulled Marley in for a quick kiss. "I promise, we'll get some alone time together tonight." he whispered.

"Ewww, get a room!" Tyler exclaimed, breaking them apart. Marley and Taylor made some popcorn and got some drinks while the boys picked a Christmas movie. _It's a wonderful life_ was playing on T.V. so they turned it to that. Tyler settled on one end of the sofa, while Marley and Ryder were sitting cuddled next to each other with Taylor sitting on the other side of Marley. "_This is perfect_." Marley thought to herself as Ryder stole a kiss during the opening credits. By the end of the movie, both of the young kids were fast asleep and Ryder and Marley were having a hard time also keeping their eyes open. As Ryder grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels, Ryder's mom came downstairs.

"Hey guys! The party's over. We have some food set aside for you all. Why don't you get cleaned up and meet us in the dining room?" Janet announced. Ryder woke up the kids and they all got cleaned up and went upstairs. When they got to the dining room, they ate dinner and Marley felt at peace for once. When they were all done eating, Marley offered to help Janet clean up, but she refused.

"You two go out and have some fun!" she said shooing Marley and Ryder out of the kitchen. Ryder grabbed her hand and they went to the foyer to get their coats.

"What are we doing Ryder?" she asked.

"We're going for a walk; I want to show you something." he replied simply, helping Marley in her coat and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Marley opened the door and stepped out into the cold December air, with Ryder keeping hold of her hand. Ryder lead her around his expansive lawn which was surrounded by woods. Eventually, they stopped at an overlook that had a breathtaking view of Lima below them. They sat down on the swing that was on the little patio and looked out in peaceful silence at the view. After a while, Marley turned to Ryder and asked him the question that was bothering her since the awkward encounter with Kitty earlier.

"So what's the story with Claire? She seems great, and she's obviously pretty, and fits in more with your world than I ever will." Marley asked sadly.

Ryder looked at Marley and carefully answered her. "There is a super long and twisted story with Claire. I'm still not sure what happened, but I promise, I won't let her get in the way of what we have. What happened with Claire didn't work out, and obviously there was a good reason for that. I just really want to focus on us and the present. No looking back in the rear view mirror." Ryder assured her. "And trust me, Claire's really good at putting on a front." he added bitterly. "My parents didn't like her much. They thought I could do better, and I'm so glad they were right." he said giving her a kiss.

"Why didn't they like her? Your parents seem like really nice, down to earth people." Marley asked him curiously.

"That was the problem." he chuckled darkly. Claire's family comes from very old money. Claire will never have to work a day in her life, but both of my parents came from poor families. They had to work hard for this lifestyle. I think that's why they like you so much. You aren't spoiled and don't care about material possessions." Marley blushed as he said this; she'd never thought about the other side much.

"Now can we please stop talking about this unpleasant topic, and enjoy this night together?" he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss.

"I love you, Ryder." she said quietly as she met his lips.

The kiss got deeper and Marley wrapped her hands around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. Ryder groaned and moved his mouth to her neck, which sent shivers all through Marley's body. They continued making out and sat entwined with each other for a very long time.

"Hey, we should probably get you home now." Ryder stopped.

"Ok." Marley agreed.

They went back to the house so Ryder could get his truck keys and tell his parents where he was going. After Marley thanked his parents and hugged Taylor and Tyler goodbye, they left in silence. Ryder held her hand on the drive back, and Marley could swear that he was driving slower so he could spend more time with her. They finally got back to Marley's house and stood on her porch kissing for another twenty minutes until Millie flickered the lights to break them up. Ryder was reluctant to leave. "I'll call you tomorrow, Marley. I love you so much. Thank you for such an amazing evening, Marls." Ryder finally left and Marley ran in her house smiling from ear to ear. "Did you have a nice time, Marley?" her mom asked as she bounded up the stairs. "The best!" Marley replied simply, feeling the happiest she's been in a long time.


End file.
